EOTR 2 - My A Listers

First of all apologies for not replying to comments.  I am having problems posting comments using my Blogger account.  There does seem to be an answer but it looks a bit of a faff.  In the past I've used my old Livejournal account but even that is sometimes creaky.  I'll do my best but don't be surprised if I post some of my replies anonymously.

I've been back 2 days but my thoughts continue to be in North Dorset.  At least I can rest knowing that health permitting I  will definitely be returning next year.  Artists for 2012 won't be booked until the new year and I will be looking forward to see who the headliners are.  Not that the vast majority of the headliners have done it for me really.  The first year was probably the best.  Explosions In The Sky, The Fleet Foxes and The Hold Steady.  Last year I really didn't care for Yo La Tengo, Modest Mouse or Wilco and this year I watched half an hour of Beirut and about 20 minutes each of Mogwai and Joanna Newsom. 

More interesting bands can generally be found further down the bill and this year was no exception.  The band I most wanted to see was Tinariwen.  I'd been tracking them for a couple of years.  I missed them play Middlesbrough in May 2007 (it was at the back end of my 20 year live music abstinence) and they didn't leave me disappointed.

Tinariwen are from Mali, like a lot of my favourite African artists such as Salif Keita and the late Ali Farka Toure. Critically acclaimed and loved by the great and the good of rock (see the Wikipedia link above) and americana (by look of the various EOTR bands grooving back stage on Sunday) they wooed and dare I say surprised the Woods Stage audience on Sunday afternoon with their tuneful

trance like assouf or desert blues.  Perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon Tinariwen had the crowd swaying, tramping and helping out with the percussion with rhythmic handclapping.  Non-English speaking the band limited their inter song chat to "thank you so much" and "is ok?"  A master stroke by EOTR.

Going back to my Friday night and the Beirut/Fall dilemma - when it came to the crunch it had to be..

and to my surprise they were brilliant.  I haven't heard any of their recent stuff and didn't recognise any of the songs but the music was quite predictably like fast rock'n'roll/rockabilly.  The Guardian reviewer mentioned "Hawkwind tendency" and commented "The Fall had dedicated fans upfront, but behind them the crowd thinned quickly".  Hardly an insight,  actually I was surprised so many stayed for so long.

As a member of "the dedicated fans upfront" and personal I got a birds eye view of Mark Smith's manic orchestrations.  Not just telling the band when to start and finish the songs but fiddling about with the controls of the amps, putting additional microphones in the bass drum and he kept going over to thump on Elena Poulou (his wife)'s keyboard.  He wandered around the stage chewing on his gums like the old 53 year old man he is, kicking and falling over microphone stands like the old drunk he is.  Or is he?  I'm not convinced, maybe it was just a good night but the music was well controlled enough for me.

And here's a photo of the gallant loser's of Friday night's battle of the bands.